The present invention is directed to an integrated optical arrangement having at least one optical waveguide integrated on a substrate of semiconductor material and to the method of forming the integrated optical arrangement.
For example, integrated optical arrangements having optical waveguides integrated on a substrate of a semiconductor material are optical switches or tunable filters that require waveguides in which the propagation constant of the mode guided in the waveguide can be varied by an electrical signal. The variation of the propagation constant can be achieved by varying the effective refractive index of the waveguide either by injecting electrical charge carriers, such as a plasma effect (see IOOC-ECOC, pp. 357-360, 1985) or by employing an electrical field which is an electro-optical effect (see SPIE, Vol. 587, pp. 180-187, 1985).
In addition to passive waveguides, integrated optical circuits often contain such electrically controllable waveguides, active waveguides, as well as lasers and amplifiers. The manufacture and connection of these various elements on a common substrate makes the manufacture of such an integrated optical circuit more difficult.